Observation of the hyperfine spectrum of antihydrogen

August 3, 2017

Close-up of the ALPHA apparatus. Credit: CERN

A Canadian-led investigation has opened a new chapter in antimatter research. In a study published today in Nature, the ALPHA Collaboration, which includes 50 physicists from 17 institutions, reports the first detailed observation of spectral lines from an antimatter atom.

"Spectral lines are like fingerprints," says lead author Michael Hayden, a Simon Fraser University physics professor. "Every element has its own unique pattern."

There is one (possible) exception: matter and antimatter are believed to be mirror images of one another, and so the spectral lines of antimatter atoms should be precisely the same as those of their normal atom counterparts. Whether or not this is true is unknown. Until now, scientists have only had glimpses of antimatter spectral lines, and comparisons with normal matter spectral lines have been coarse.

The ALPHA Collaboration studies antihydrogen, the antimatter counterpart of the ordinary hydrogen atom. Their experimental results show a particular set of spectral lines in antihydrogen match those in hydrogen very well. The team plans to zoom in much closer to check if subtle discrepancies exist between the two atoms on a yet finer scale.

Conducted at the CERN laboratory in Geneva, the research involves irradiating antihydrogen atoms with microwaves, similar to those used to communicate with satellites. When this is done, the anti-atoms reveal their identity by emitting or absorbing energy at very specific frequencies. That pattern, or spectrum, of frequencies corresponds to the "fingerprint" described by Hayden.

"One of the challenges we face is that matter and antimatter annihilate when they come into contact with one another," says Justine Munich, an SFU physics PhD candidate. "We have to keep them apart. We can't just put our anti-atoms into an ordinary container. They have to be trapped or held inside a special magnetic bottle."

"By studying the properties of anti-atoms we hope to learn more about the universe in which we live," says Hayden. "We can make antimatter in the lab, but it doesn't seem to exist naturally except in miniscule quantities. Why is this? We simply don't know. But perhaps antihydrogen can give us some clues."

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52 comments

Matter and antimatter do not annihilate each other. The orbiting plus charge collides with orbiting negative charge; this instability we call annihilation. The charges are the same with opposite orbiters and nuclei.

I conjecture useful for controlled propulsion.

Remember the charge and the field are the same. The field centers are what you say is annihilated. Suggest, check you methods.

Dingbone

Remember anti-matter was postulated with QM, LOL, non-causal nonsense, and observed in a cloud chamber, WTF. No questions? Charge is conserved and does not have mass. There exist only the two polarities. What sort of logic calls a positive charge an anti-electron as a distinct particle when particles do not exist, only the field exist and is identified by the field centers. Funny thing spherical fields, there are only the two no matter how you name them. Ignorance is always incorrect. Lighten up! But this is hilarious. I mean this in a good way, I'm an Engineer explaining why I'm correct!

You are ill informed, photons do not exist. QM existence proof is nonsense. All motion of these centers we call charge radiates. Think of the entire field as an object, the wake moves at the speed of light away from the center. The centers move as described by Coulomb, empirical, undeniable, axiomatic! Atoms do radiate, the orbiter's, when the atom moves, etc.

Wow...first you claim photons do not exist and then you talk about the 'speed of light'...do you ever listen to what you say? The amount of crazy in your posts is staggering. Time to put you back on ignore.

Wow...first you claim photons do not exist and then you talk about the 'speed of light'...do you ever listen to what you say? The amount of crazy in your posts is staggering. Time to put you back on ignore.

Your response is only negative without support. So ignorable. The field is continuous, disprove that!

It's the poking around in these areas where we think we know it all but no one has ever looked that will eventually yield new physics. This might not be where we'll find it; antimatter and matter may turn out to be exactly symmetric. But we don't know until we look. This is not gaudy, it's not "earth shattering," but one time, one of these investigations will be. The first thing you learn is you always have to wait. This is #realscience.

if you can't figure it out based upon the clear, concise pointed argument, then i don't know what to tell ya other than: "stick to waffle house jobs"

By the way are you the scientific police?

are you a pseudoscience acolyte?

the only "science police" i've ever seen are forensic scientistsbut if you mean the enforcement of the scientific method, then all scientists are the "science police" as failure to comply means your reputation is trash

Then you are doing a very bad job. Shutting down logic 'cause

[sic]if you think the introduction of logic to narrow the pseudoscience from the science is "doing a very bad job" because it's shutting down your "logic" then perhaps you are talking pseudoscience, eh?

if you can't figure it out based upon the clear, concise pointed argument, then i don't know what to tell ya other than: "stick to waffle house jobs" .... eh?

eh, truth matters. Your concise evidence is incorrect, else what is this paper still trying to prove! Exactly, it states no difference of matter and antimatter. So no one knows what matter is made. I do. Do you?

This is a conversation on Physics, not conversational logic. Formal logic is expected. However, you may state any fuzzy logic, i.e. a method of evaluating Truth. Both may define physics when 'properly' stated, i.e. The Formal Logic, Necessary and Sufficient.

So I'm saying, IKBSWIHI!

nikola_milovic_378

Aug 16, 2017

This comment has been removed by a moderator.

nikola_milovic_378

Aug 16, 2017

This comment has been removed by a moderator.

nikola_milovic_378

The infinite universe is filled with ETHER substance from which the substance is formed: the "solid" and "liquid" state of matter. "Solid state" causes gravity, "fluid state" of matter, causes magnetism (the appearance of magnetism).Antimatter, dark matter and dark energy do not exist in the universe, nor does the universe expand, nor are Einstein's theories and Lorenz's transformations valid.Science has not yet figured out why our Moon always has one and its same side facing Earth, and go to the stupid BB, hence they bring their fictitious tales into which tycoon scientists become. A GREAT DISGRACE FOR SCIENCE !!

There is only charge. Charge and the charge's field, same thang! juz say'n Not whatever pops into your mind!

nikola_milovic_378

Aug 17, 2017

This comment has been removed by a moderator.

nikola_milovic_378

@Hyperfuzzy, yes, it is true that something has been broken in my mind and now I have no problems, because the mind can not contaminate my consciousness, which leads me to finding out the true causes of the phenomenon. What I claim is not easy to grasp if you do not possess a sufficient level of awareness, to understand the structure of the universe and to find out what matter is and how it arises, and from what it will be clear to you what gravity and magnetism are. Then all theories of relativity, BB, the spread of the universe and so on will be ignored, because you will respect the existence of the Spiritual Entity of the universe, which gave you the opportunity to join him, but on the condition that you do not believe in the so-called stupid theories of many scientists.

The universe is also infinite in time and substance. However, either way you look at it, there are only diametrical spherical fields that exist from its center to infinity. An infinite number of pairs.

Spiritualism is a dichotomy of the mind, body, and spirit. One essential part of the spirit is what or who do we emulate. Forget the "fantasy of God" apply the reality of your provider. We exist with no provider, we killed those, every one must seek money. A very strange solution for provision. So I have no idea what you are talking about, when people start assigning impossibility to some non-existent spirit! So Nikola, get real.

nikola_milovic_378

Aug 19, 2017

This comment has been removed by a moderator.

nikola_milovic_378

Stand in front of the mirror and take a deep look at your face and eyes, and try to analyze yourself. Have you come from a BB too? Who gave you all the possibilities that you inherited from spermatozoids. How many pairs are there that formed us? Try to understand what God is! Discard religion as a dogma and engage in searching for the true causes of the phenomenon. You can do this only if you have a higher level of consciousness and if you have an intuition that is the current connection to the Absolute Universe Consciousness (ACU).

There is no supernatural God!

nikola_milovic_378

Your statement that there is no such super-natural God, is proof that many people live in the captivity of their own mind who commands all obscure senses and through Free Will, suffocating the rise in awareness. A high level of awareness recognizes what Creator-God is. This is the general state of all events and phenomena in the universe and the management of these phenomena. It is clear to me that there is a very high percentage of people who are under the control of the mind and it is a natural process of developing consciousness through multiple existence, as matter develops and disappears, and consciousness moves to other dwellings.

You need help. The "supernatural" is an impossibility!

nikola_milovic_378

It is true that I need help. This help consists in having at least a couple of minded people who understand what nature is and who has formed this nature.Again, I draw attention to think about myself and to see if it existed and whether there is someone who formed you as a human being. But if you ignore it and you are not aware of it then it's not a miracle to say that there is no one who has shaped nature and us in it. Just keep ignoring your Creator, you may one day be able to overcome and overcome in your abilities.To break this way, can you explain what the antihydrogen is, whether it exists and how it can be done. I claim it is fatamorgana.

nikola_milovic_378

By this you admitted that you do not know physics, and even less about the universe!

Dude, you are being rude. You can never know what another knows. Anyway, I have over 50 Years experience with everything electrical, electronic. nuclear, etc.. How about your comment? How did you decide that, I just explained all physics, time to grow up. Stop denying $hit with more $hit. Juz say'n

Just the facts. mam.

nikola_milovic_378

e TRUE CAUSES OF THE ATTEMPT AND IN US AND THE UNIVERSE !! WRITE THIS, ALL THOSE THIS READ !!

Cra cra, your rambling does not present anything useful. All of modern physics and the physics before seek to know. With a little hindsight, missteps are easy to see. There exists only the fields. Now, why do we see the spherical fields described by coulomb? That's the point isn't it. Also these things are immortal, i.e. conserved. You don't have to be smart to see the truth; but, you must be a little stupid to miss it!

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